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Family (band)
Family are an English rock band, active from late 1966 to October 1973, and again since 2013 for a series of live shows. Their style has been characterised as progressive rock, as their sound often explored other genres, incorporating elements of styles such as folk, psychedelia, acid, jazz fusion and rock and roll. The band achieved recognition in the United Kingdom through their albums, club and concert tours and appearances at festivals.Only Solitaire: George Starostin's Music Reviewsclass=artist|id=p17423|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic – Family biographyStrange Band – a Family introductionRate Your Music – Family biography The band's rotating membership throughout its relatively short existence led to a diversity in sound throughout their different albums. Family are also often seen as an unjustly forgotten act, when compared with other bands from the same period and have been described as an "odd band loved by a small but rabid group of fans". Although most of their recordings were issued in the US, the band never achieved any appreciable success there. History Early years (1966–1969) Family formed in Late 1966 in Leicester, England from the remaining members of a group that was previously known as The Farinas45 RPM – Family biography and later briefly The Roaring Sixties, whose sound was grounded in R&B.Strange Band – Family history The Farinas originally consisted of John "Charlie" Whitney, Tim Kirchin (born c. 1944, Birstall, Leicestershire died c. 2000), Harry Ovenall (born Richard Harry Ovenall, 12 September 1943, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire) and Jim King, forming at Leicester Art College in 1962. Ric Grech replaced Kirchin on bass in 1965 and Roger Chapman joined the following year on vocals. The American record producer Kim Fowley suggested they call themselves "The Family" as they regularly wore double-breasted suits in performances, giving themselves a mafia appearance, a look they soon abandoned in favour a more casual dress code. They played the famous Marquee Club regularly and other London clubs including The Hundred Club and the famous Sybilla's in Swallow Street where they met Henrietta Guinness who introduced them into society. On meeting Mim Scala who they had known before, Scala asked if there was anything he could do for them. Because they were looking for material at the time, and probably a producer, Ovenall asked Scala if he could arrange for Jimmy Miller to produce the first single which he duly did. Scala also introduced them to John Gilbert, who from then on took over managing the band. Thanks to Miller, Steve Winwood and other members of Traffic participated in the recording. Shortly after the recording and before the release, Ovenall voiced his concern over the movement away from their black musical roots i.e. blues, R&B, soul. In fact around 1965 The Farinas had publicity cards saying "Farinas Soul and Roll". The single seemed to be going towards psychedelia, emphasised by the use of a phono fiddle borrowed from an Oxford Street busker, and played by Ric Grech. His concerns also included the role of management in the band. A meeting of the band was called, during which it was suggested that Ovenall's heart was no longer in the band and as a consequence he walked away from the band. Contrary to several reports he was not asked to leave the band. Family's debut single "Scene Through The Eye of a Lens/Gypsy Woman", produced by Jimmy Miller and released by Liberty Records in October 1967, was not a success. Drummer Ovenall was replaced by Rob Townsend. The band signed with the Reprise Records label (the first UK band signed directly to UK and US Reprise) and their debut album Music in a Doll's House, was recorded during early 1968. Miller was originally slated to produce it but he was tied up with production of The Rolling Stones' album Beggar's Banquet and he is credited as co-producer on only two tracks, "The Breeze" and "Peace of Mind". The bulk of the album was produced by former Traffic member Dave Mason, and recorded at London's Olympic Studios with engineers Eddie Kramer and George Chkiantz. Mason also contributed one composition to the album, "Never Like This", the only song recorded by Family not written by a band member,Strange Band: Music from a Doll's House and the group also backed Mason on the b-side of his February 1968 single "Just For You". Alongside Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, The Move and The Nice, Family quickly became one of the premier attractions on the burgeoning UK psychedelic/progressive "underground" scene. Their lifestyle and exploits during this period provided some of the inspiration for the 1969 novel, Groupie, by Jenny Fabian (who lived in the group's Chelsea house for some time) and Johnny Byrne.Nik Logan & Bob Woffinden, The Illustrated New Music Express Encyclopedia of Rock, 1978 Edition (Salamander Books, 1977), pp. 79–80 Family featured in the book under the pseudonym, 'Relation'.The Groupie Website: The Bands In Groupie Music in a Doll's House was released in July 1968 and charted at No. 35 in the UK to critical acclaim, thanks to strong support from BBC Radio 1's John Peel. Now widely acknowledged as a classic of British psychedelic rock, it showcased many of the stylistic and production features that are archetypal of the genre. The album's highly originalclass=album|id=r37207|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic: Music from a Doll's House sound was characterised by Chapman's vocals, rooted in the blues and R&B, combined with several unusual instruments for a rock band, courtesy of the presence of multi-instrumentalists Grech and King, including saxophones, violin, cello and harmonica. Family's 1969 follow-up, Family Entertainment, toned down the psychedelic experimentation of their previous offering to some extent,class=album|id=r37208|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic: Family Entertainment reaching No. 6 in the UK Albums Chart, and featured the single "The Weaver's Answer", although the group reportedly had no control over the mixing and choice of tracks, or the running order of the songs. With the UK success of Family's first two albums, the band undertook a tour of the United States in April 1969, but it was beset by problems. Halfway through the tour, Grech unexpectedly left the band to join the new supergroup Blind Faith; on the recommendation of tour manager Peter Grant, Grech was replaced by John Weider, previously of Eric Burdon and The Animals.Strange Band: John Weider A further setback occurred during their first concert at Bill Graham's Fillmore East, whilst sharing the bill with Ten Years After and The Nice – during his stage routine, Chapman lost control of his microphone stand, which flew in Graham's direction, an act Graham took to be deliberate;Strange Band: Family facts Chapman performed the following shows with his hands by his sides, and by the end of the tour he had lost his voice; Family's reputation in the US never recovered and they ultimately never achieved great recognition there.CannyGigs.com – Roger Chapman Returning to the UK, the band performed at The Rolling Stones' Hyde Park gig and the Isle of Wight Festival that summer. In late 1969, Jim King was asked to leave Family due to "erratic behaviour" and was replaced by multi-instrumentalist John "Poli" Palmer. Later years (1970–1973) In 1970, Family played a few more gigs in the United States, appearing in San Francisco and Boston. In early 1970, Family released their third studio album, A Song for Me; produced by the band, it became the highest charting album the band released, reaching No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart.Strange Band: Gigs The album itself was a blend of hard rock and folk rock.class=album|id=r37209|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic: A Song for Me Family's new line-up played at major rock festivals that summer, including the Kralingen Music Festival in the Netherlands and the Isle of Wight Festival for the second year in a row. The band appeared in the documentary film Message to Love about the latter festival.Artist Direct: Message to Love Family's follow up album Anyway, released in late 1970, had its first half consist of new material recorded live at Fairfield Hall in Croydon, England, with the second half a set of new songs recorded in the studio, and reached No. 7 on the UK chart.Strange Band: Anyway In March 1971 the compilation album, Old Songs New Songs, (which contained remixes and rare tracks) was released, but in June Weider left Family to join Stud. He was replaced by former Mogul Thrash bassist John Wetton,class=album|id=r37211|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic: Fearless who had just declined an invitation from Robert Fripp to join King Crimson. As with Grech in Family's original line-up, Wetton also shared vocal duties with Chapman, and this line-up soon released Family's highest-charting single "In My Own Time/Seasons" which reached No. 4, and the album Fearless in October 1971, which charted in both the UK and the US. In 1972, another album, Bandstand was released, which leaned more towards hard rock than art rock,class=album|id=r37212|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic: Bandstand featuring the singles "Burlesque" in late 1972, and "My Friend the Sun", which was released in early 1973. In mid-1972, John Wetton left Family to join a new line-up of King Crimson and was replaced by bassist Jim Cregan, and at the end of that year John "Poli" Palmer also left the band and was replaced by keyboardist Tony Ashton, previously of Ashton, Gardner and Dyke. After Wetton's departure (but before Palmer's exit) Family toured the United States and Canada as the support act for Elton John, but their performances were often greeted with silence and Poli Palmer later recalled that "the only clapping in this huge stadium would be the guys doing the PA". In 1973, Family released the largely ignored It's Only a Movie (and on their own label, Raft, distributed by Warner/Reprise), which would be their last studio album, followed by another tour.class=album|id=r37213|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic: It's Only a Movie" Family gave their final concert at Leicester Polytechnic on 13 October 1973. Many of its members went on to different musical projects; Roger Chapman and John "Charlie" Whitney formed the band Streetwalkers; John Wetton played with King Crimson and eventually became the lead singer of the band Asia.class=artist|id=p5810|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic: John Wetton Rob Townsend was a member of Medicine Head between 1973 and 1975. He is now a member of The Blues Band since 1979 and of The Manfreds since 1991. Ric Grech died of kidney and liver failure in 1990 at the age of 43, as a result of alcoholism.class=artist|id=p18004|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic: Ric Grech Tony Ashton died in 2001 at the age of 55 of cancer.Strange Band: Tony Ashton Sadly, Jim King died on 6 February 2012 in Middlewich, Cheshire. Reunion performances (2013-present) In September 2012 the band announced a one-off reunion gig on 2 February 2013 at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London featuring Roger Chapman, Poli Palmer, Rob Townsend and Jim CreganBand reunion gig announced Demand for tickets was so great that an extra show was scheduled for the previous night, Friday 1 February, and an expanded version of the band (also featuring Chapman's regular back-up musicians Paul Hirsh, John Lingwood, Nick Payn, Gary Twigg and Geoff Whitehorn, billed as "The In Laws")Concert Souvenir Programme played to sell-out audiences. The setlist on both nights comprised: Top of the Hill, Drowned in Wine, Holding the Compass, Part of the Load, Ready to Go, Crinkly Grin, Burning Bridges, No Mule's Fool, Sat'dy Barfly, Between Blue and Me, Hung Up Down, Burlesque, In My Own Time. Encore 1: Weaver's Answer; Encore 2: My Friend the Sun, Sweet Desiree. Roger Chapman paid warm tributes to absent band members Rick Grech, Tony Ashton, Jim King, John Weider, John Wetton and Charlie Whitney during the band's performance. Family performed at the Rockin' the Park Festival at Clumber Park in Notts on 16 August 2013. The limited edition Family box set, Once Upon a Time, won the Storm Thorgerson Grand Design award at the 2013 Progressive Music Awards. Family again played gigs in the UK in 2014 and 2015. In 2016 they were scheduled to appear at festivals in England and Italy, as well as two gigs in London on 17th & 18th December and one in Leicester on 22nd December, which are billed as the band's last ever shows. For these gigs, Chapman, Palmer and Cregan were joined by five other musicians. Music Family's sound was distinguished by several factors. The vocals of Roger Chapman, described as a "bleating vibrato"In Music We Trust: Family Live and an "electric goat", were considered unique, although Chapman was trying to emulate the voices of R&B and soul singers Little Richard and Ray Charles, with some reviewers noting however that Chapman's voice could be grating and irritating occasionally. John "Charlie" Whitney was an accomplished and innovative guitarist, and Family's often complex song arrangements were made possible through having multi-instrumentalists like Ric Grech and Jim King in the band and access to keyboards such as the Hammond organ and the new Mellotron. The band's sound has been variously described as progressive rock, psychedelic rock, acid rock, folk rock, jazz fusion, not to mention "British art rock," and hard rock. Family were particularly known for their live performances; one reviewer describing the band as "one of the wildest, most innovative groups of the underground rock scene", noting that they produced "some of the rawest, most intense performances on stage in rock history" and "that the Jimi Hendrix Experience were afraid to follow them at festivals". Family was an influence on Jethro Tull, with Ian Anderson noting that the band were particularly under-rated. Both in his vocal sound and style and his dramatic stage presentation, Chapman was also a strong early influence on Peter Gabriel. Personnel Members ;Current members *Roger Chapman – vocals, harmonica, tenor saxophone, percussion (1966–1973, 2013-present) *Rob Townsend – drums, percussion (1967–1973, 2013-present) *John "Poli" Palmer – keyboards, flute, vibraphone, synthesisers (1969–1972, 2013-present) *Jim Cregan – bass, guitars (1972–1973, 2013-present) ;Former members *John "Charlie" Whitney – guitars, sitar, keyboards (1966–1973) *Jim King – saxophones, harmonica, tin whistle, piano, vocals (1966–1969; died 2012) *Ric Grech – bass, violin, cello, vocals (1966–1969; died 1990) *Harry Ovenall – drums, percussion (1966–1967) *John Weider – bass, guitar, violin (1969–1971) *John Wetton – bass, guitar, vocals (1971–1972; died 2017) *Tony Ashton – keyboards, accordion, mellotron, vocals (1972–1973; died 2001) Session musicians *Dave Mason – mellotron (on Music in a Doll's House) *Nicky Hopkins – piano (on Family Entertainment) *George Bruno – organ (on A Song for Me) *Linda Lewis – backing vocals (on Bandstand) *Peter Hope-Evans – harmonica (on It's Only a Movie) * Geoff Whitehorn – guitar (2013) * John Lingwood – drums, percussion (2013) * Gary Twigg – bass (2013) * Paul Hirsh – keyboards (2013) * Nick Payn – sax, harmonica (2013) Producers *John Gilbert – Music in a Doll's House and Family Entertainment (executive producer) *Dave Mason – Music in a Doll's House *Jimmy Miller – Music in a Doll's House *Glyn Johns – Family Entertainment *George Chkiantz – A Song for Me, Anyway, Fearless, Bandstand, It's Only a Movie Lineups Timeline ImageSize = width:1000 height:550 PlotArea = left:200 bottom:120 top:0 right:35 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/10/1966 till:01/01/2015 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1967 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1967 Colors = id:voc value:red legend:Vocals id:ww value:gray(0.5) legend:Wind_Instruments id:g value:green legend:Guitars id:key value:purple legend:Keyboards id:b value:blue legend:Bass id:dr value:orange legend:Drums id:pc value:claret legend:Percussion id:alb value:black legend:Studio_releases LineData = at:19/07/1968 layer:back at:01/03/1969 at:23/01/1970 at:01/11/1970 at:29/10/1971 at:01/09/1972 at:01/09/1973 PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,–4) bar:Roger Chapman from:start till:20/10/1973 color:voc bar:Roger Chapman from:start till:01/11/1972 color:pc width:3 bar:Roger Chapman from:01/09/2012 till:end color:voc bar:Jim King from:start till:01/11/1969 color:ww bar:Jim King from:start till:01/11/1969 color:voc width:3 bar:John "Charlie" Whitney from:start till:20/10/1973 color:g bar:John "Charlie" Whitney from:start till:01/11/1972 color:key width:3 bar:John "Poli" Palmer from:15/10/1969 till:01/11/1972 color:key bar:John "Poli" Palmer from:15/10/1969 till:01/11/1972 color:pc width:3 bar:John "Poli" Palmer from:01/09/2012 till:end color:pc bar:Tony Ashton from:01/11/1972 till:20/10/1973 color:key bar:Ric Grech from:start till:01/04/1969 color:b bar:Ric Grech from:start till:01/04/1969 color:voc width:3 bar:John Weider from:01/04/1969 till:01/07/1971 color:b bar:John Weider from:01/04/1969 till:01/07/1971 color:g width:3 bar:John Wetton from:01/07/1971 till:01/07/1972 color:b bar:John Wetton from:01/07/1971 till:01/07/1972 color:voc width:3 bar:Jim Cregan from:01/07/1972 till:20/10/1973 color:b bar:Jim Cregan from:01/07/1972 till:20/10/1973 color:g width:3 bar:Jim Cregan from:01/09/2012 till:end color:g bar:Harry Ovenall from:start till:01/10/1967 color:dr bar:Harry Ovenall from:start till:01/10/1967 color:pc width:3 bar:Rob Townshend from:01/10/1967 till:20/10/1973 color:dr bar:Rob Townshend from:01/10/1967 till:20/10/1973 color:pc width:3 bar:Rob Townshend from:01/09/2012 till:end color:dr bar:Rob Townshend from:01/09/2012 till:end color:pc width:3 bar: from:start till:end color:black bar:LIVE PERSONNEL from:start till:01/02/1967 color:white bar:Nick Payn from:01/09/2012 till:end color:ww bar:Geoff Whitehorn from:01/09/2012 till:end color:g bar:Paul Hirsh from:01/09/2012 till:end color:key bar:Gary Twigg from:01/09/2012 till:end color:b bar:John Lingwood from:01/09/2012 till:end color:dr bar:John Lingwood from:01/09/2012 till:end color:pc width:3 Discography Studio albums * Music in a Doll's House (UK & US Reprise, 1968) * Family Entertainment (UK & US Reprise, 1969) * A Song for Me (UK & US Reprise, 1970) * Anyway (UK Reprise & US United Artists, 1970) * Fearless (UK Reprise & US United Artists, 1971) * Bandstand (UK Reprise & US United Artists, 1972) * It's Only a Movie (UK Raft & US United Artists, 1973) References External links * Family at MusicBrainz * Family at Rate Your Music * 45rpm.org.uk – a Family biography * A Family Affair – reviews of Family albums * Zeitgeist – reviews of Family albums * Leicester Bands – interviews with Family band members * Family Bandstand – a Family site with audio, video * class=artist|id=p17423|pure_url=yes}} Family at Allmusic Category:English rock music groups Category:Musical groups from Leicester Category:Musical groups established in 1967 Category:English progressive rock groups Category:1967 establishments in England